Benefits of Scleral Lens in the Management of Irregular Corneas and Dry Eye Syndrome After Refractive Surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the utility of the SPOT scleral lens (Oxygen Permeable Scleral Lens of Thonon; LAO, Thonon-les-Bains, France) in the management of the irregular cornea after refractive surgery. METHOD: We included 19 patients (35 eyes) with irregular corneas after refractive surgery. Patients were fitted with scleral lenses after the failure of conventional contact lenses adaptation. The ophthalmologic examination included measurement of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), slitlamp examination, and evaluation of ocular aberrations (Objective Scattering Index [OSI] and higher-order aberration [HOA]). RESULT: Scleral lens fitting increases significantly the BCVA from 0.33 (±0.25) to 0.08 (±0.13) LogMAR (P<0.001). There was also a significant decrease in Ocular Surface Disease Index from 66.2±22.8 to 42.4±18.9 (P<0.001). Ocular aberrations (OAs) are also significantly reduced by the scleral lenses, the mean OSI goes from 7.2 (±4.2) to 3.0 (±1.8) (P<0.001), OA from 2.58 (±1.34) to 1.98 µm (±2.31) (P=0.035), and HOA from 0.94 (±0.51) to 0.48 (±0.23) (P=0.0018). CONCLUSION: Fitting with scleral lenses improves patients' optical and ocular surface problems. Scleral lens restores BCVA and the quality of life. Fitting with scleral lenses is an alternative to further surgery on these fragile eyes and is sometimes the only viable treatment option for the patient.

Dual 0.02% chlorhexidine digluconate - 0.1% disodium EDTA loaded thermosensitive ocular gel for Acanthamoeba keratitis treatment.

Poor bioavailability and low residence time limit the efficiency of conventional biguanide-based eye drops against Acanthamoeba keratitis. The aim of this work was to formulate an original anti-amoebic thermoreversible ocular gel combining biguanide and metalloproteases inhibitor - chelating agent. Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX)-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (Na2EDTA) were compounded in poloxamer 407 saline solution. 0.02% CHX - 0.1% Na2EDTA loaded thermosensitive ocular gel exhibited appropriate pH (5.73 ±â€¯0.06), iso-osmolality (314 ±â€¯5 mOsm/kg), viscosity (ranged between 15 and 25 mPa.s) and thermal gelation (26.5 °C and 33 °C) properties. Bioadhesion of gel was successfully tested onto isolated bovine eyes as well as the assessment of CHX penetration into the cornea. Intracorneal CHX concentration was found greater than trophozoite minimum amoebicidal concentration and minimal cysticidal concentration after 15-min and 2-h ocular exposure, respectively, while any CHX permeation through the cornea was detected (<51 ng/cm2/h). Improvement of CHX ocular bioavailability was attributed to probable solubilization of tear film lipid layer by poloxamer. In vitro efficiency of CHX-Na2EDTA ocular gel was confirmed from the drastic reduction of trophozoite and cyst survival (to 25% and 2%, respectively), confirming the potential of the multicomponent pharmaceutical material strategy for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Long-term visual and systemic prognoses of 83 cases of biopsy-proven sarcoid uveitis.

AIMS: To determine the long-term visual and systemic outcomes of uveitis patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis. METHODS: A retrospective study of biopsy-proven sarcoid uveitis, with a 3-year minimum follow-up, seen at Lyon University Hospital, between April 2004 and January 2016. RESULTS: A total of 83 patients were included, with a median age at onset of 52 (37-62) years and an unbalanced gender ratio (women 77.1%). Thirty-one patients had original systemic sarcoidosis in addition to ocular localisation, whereas 52 initially presented with isolated sarcoid uveitis. Among the latter, 7.7% (n=4) developed an extraocular disease after a median follow-up duration of 60 (44-110) months. The systemic spread in these patients included cutaneous sarcoids (n=2), arthritis (n=1) and multiple mononeuritis (n=1). Complete visual recovery was obtained for 60.2% of all patients and 89.2% had retrieved best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) >20/50 in both eyes. A unilateral loss of BCVA of worse than 20/200 was documented in two patients in the isolated sarcoid uveitis group. No patient suffered from bilateral severe visual impairment or blindness. Factors linked to a poor visual prognosis, defined by BCVA ≤20/50 in at least one eye, were chronic macular oedema (p=0.009) and persistent ocular inflammation (p=0.0005). CONCLUSIONS: In this large European series of biopsy-proven sarcoidosis to date, with a prolonged follow-up, sarcoid uveitis was suggestive of a favourable systemic and visual outcome. Clinically isolated uveitis that revealed sarcoidosis remained a strictly ocular condition in most cases.

Clinical features and diagnostic evaluation of 83 biopsy-proven sarcoid uveitis cases.

AIMS: To determine the clinical features of patients with uveitis with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis, document differences in these features according to ethnicity, age and sex, and assess the diagnostic value of biochemical and imaging examinations. METHODS: Retrospective study of 83 biopsy-proven sarcoid uveitis cases seen at two Departments of Internal Medicine and two Departments of Ophthalmology between April 2004 and March 2014. RESULTS: Caucasian patients presented with uveitis at a later age than non-Caucasian (58 years vs 41 years; p=0.001) and had more often a chronic form (78.3% vs 43.8%; p=0.01). Women had higher rates of chronic macular oedema than men (48.3% vs 14.3%; p=0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between patients aged ≤50 years and patients aged >50 years. ACE levels were high (>62 U/L) in 61.7% and lysozyme levels high (>16.7 mg/L) in 83.9% of tested patients. Chest X-rays and CTs were suggestive of sarcoidosis in 62.8% and 91.2% of cases, respectively. Among 21 patients with positive tomography and negative X-rays, 13 were Caucasian women >50 years. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of intrathoracic nodes contributed to the diagnosis in 7 patients with normal labial salivary gland and transbronchial biopsies. Any of the enzyme tests together with any of the imaging tests identified 100% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this largest European series of biopsy-proven sarcoidosis to date, the outstanding diagnostic ability of enzyme test plus imaging test couple suggests that the recourse to invasive procedures should be limited to patients with ocular involvement that would justify systemic treatments.